Peter P. Wong, MD, 74, passed away peacefully on April 16, 2018. He is survived by his wife Shirley, his son Christopher (daughter-in-law Michelle), his son Nicholas, and his grandchildren Danielle, Colin, and Tyson.
After attending UC Berkeley, Dr. Wong graduated with high honors from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan. In medical school, an assignment to a cancer ward inspired him to pursue a career as a physician specializing in cancer treatment. Following training in Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado and UCSF Medical Center, along with a brief service in the Air Force, Dr. Wong completed a fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Dr. Wong pioneered the delivery of cancer care in the Tri-Valley community by founding Valley Medical Oncology Consultants (VMOC), a group that has been providing comprehensive cancer care to Bay Area patients for the last 40 years. During that time, VMOC grew from a single location to serving four counties and 10 locations while providing services that include medical oncology, radiation oncology, clinical trials and palliative care.
He was one of the original members of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and was dedicated to research and providing his patients access to clinical trials. Additionally, throughout his career, he was a member of the medical staff at several East Bay hospitals including Eden Medical Center, San Ramon Regional Medical Center, and Valley Care. Throughout his professional life, he supported multiple organizations that provide services for cancer patients. As a practicing physician he not only affected the lives of countless patients, but also served as a mentor and guide to numerous physicians and other healthcare professionals.
His treatment philosophy was to provide academic level of care with state of the art technology in a compassionate setting. Patient-centered care for both patients and their families with personalized expertise was the foundational belief upon which the practice was built. His goal was to treat the person not the disease.
Dr. Wong was among the first to be certified as a specialist in Hospice and Palliative care because it was equally important to him to develop the standard of long term care for the patients he served. He was instrumental in developing a program to educate other physicians about palliative care. He loved to teach and was an advisor to many.
He pioneered hospice and palliative care services in the Bay Area. Hope Hospice, a local non-profit community hospice was founded in 1980. He served as a physician and medical director of Hope Hospice for 32 years until he retired in 2014. In his years at Hope Hospice, he selflessly donated his time in caring for patients at the end of life. Most recently, he served as the medical director for Continuum Hospice.
Dr. Wong’s passions in life were his family, caring for his patients, handball, and Cal sports. You could often find him at a Cal game cheering on his team.
You are invited to attend this memorial service honoring Dr. Wong:
Remembrance of a Life Well-Lived honoring Dr. Peter Wong, Sunday, June 3, 2018, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Pleasanton Senior Center, Main Hall, 5353 Sunol Boulevard, Pleasanton.
His family requests in lieu of flowers that donations be made to the following organizations in his name.
Hope Hospice 6377 Clark Avenue, Suite 100 | Dublin, CA 94568
Cal Athletics 195 Haas Pavilion | Berkeley, CA 94720
Wayne State University Medical School 5700 Cass Avenue, Suite 1200 | Detroit, MI 48202